Looking for some advice on where and what to use for bait offshore out of Surfside. I've got a 23' bay boat and have fished the bay areas and jetties for years, but have never been out to any of the rigs before....so, new uncharted waters for me. Any advice on where to go, baits to use, fish to target would be appreciated. Also, worth trolling? Thanks in advance.

ribbon fish for kings, sardines/cigar minnows for just about anything. Piggie perch for snapper, AJ's. You can troll around weedlines to see if you can hook up to some dorado or ling.

I'd recommend:
-Chart plotter with marine mapping chip
-VHF radio and tall antenna
-EPIRB
-Ditch Bag

If you're staying near shore then you'll most likely catch kings, smacks, some ling, maybe mahi, smaller snapper.

If you want better shots at mahi, larger snaps, aj's, grouper, wahoo then you'll need to get into waters around 200+ ft. You'll need to get bigger gear such as stand-up rods and 30-50 class reels.

I warn you, once you begin down this path to blue-water fishing you'll be done with inshore fishing. It's a sickness and requires a tremendous amount of money. You'll sell your bay boat and mortgage the house to buy a twin engine offshore boat and all the gear plus fuel to run it. Once you feel a big tug offshore there is no trout or red that can ever compare.

NO DOUBT!!

I bring plenty of ribbom fish, live shrimp and frozen sardines. Remeber, it is a pain in the butt if you run out of bait. If you can get them live finger mullet work great also. I fish the rigs pretty much all the time and have great luck with them.

When I get to the rig, I always have a rod baited with shrimp. After I have tied up to the rig, I knock on the side of the boat for about a minute or two, keeping an eye on the water. If there are any Ling at the rig, they wil generally come to the boat to see what is up. Drop the shrimp in and hold on.

If no ling shows up, I then set out two of the big poles with ribbon fish. One with a balloon float, keeping it about 15' below the surface and the other just drifting. I then put another two of the big poles out with sardines (same configuration). Then I start bottom fishing. I use either the live shrimp on the bottom or sardine on a snapper slapper rig.

I also put one of my poles out at about 15' with a sardine on a snapper slapper rig, this will catch any random ling that happens by the boat.

If you want to chum up the bottom fish, a good cheap way of doing it is to make your own chum basket. Go to Home Depot and get some PVC pipe (6" diameter), cap and a screw on cap(not sure the correct term). Make the pipe about 12" and drill a bunch of holes in it. Glue both caps on it and put a hole in the bottom cap. Get about 150' of rope and thread it through the hole in the bottom cap and tie a knot in it. Every 10' of the rope, tie a zip tie to it, this will help you measure the depth. Fill it with chopped up sardines, put some weights in it (depending on the current) and drop it to the depth you want. After I used it the first time, I added a small kleet to one side of it. This allowed me to wrap the rope around the tube and secure it nicely.

I have done this on a trip with my buddy boat. He was tied to the same rig only about 40 feet away and my boat limited on snapper and they barely caught any.

Good luck and have fun.